Consumer behavior studies: How they help to determine the factors influencing consumer behavior

17 Mar Consumer behavior studies: How they help to determine the factors influencing consumer behavior

Consumer behavior studies: How they help to determine the factors influencing consumer behavior

After performing several market research studies on numerous individuals and groups, researchers concluded that there are certain factors behind why a buyer chooses or refuses to buy a particular commodity. Consumer behavior studies help to learn the buying habits of the consumers and determine the factors that are influencing those habits. Consumer behavior studies are systematic studies that are carried out on individual buyers to benefit the organizations as well as the individual buyers.

Factors That Influence Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior studies try to understand how consumers carry out the decision-making process before buying a product, under psychological, economic, sociological, and various other conditions. Here are the factors that influence the consumer buying behavior.

Fondness

It is one of the most influential factors of consumer behavior. Without this factor, there can hardly be any purchasing. Generally, consumers buy only those products or services that they are fond of. Certainly, there are purchases that are made out of necessity, in which case, the buyer may or may not actually like the purchased item, however, personal preferences enjoy a greater role in influencing consumer behavior.

Financial Convenience

Financial convenience is the topmost influencer of consumer buying behavior. The key characteristic of the decision-making process is the consumer’s economic accessibility at the time of purchase. This is known as the purchasing power. If the consumer does not have the purchasing power, regardless of how excellent a product is, it will not be sold.

Social Factors

Social factors greatly influence the buying habits. They are based on the hierarchal system. There are namely three categories acknowledged in a society; the higher class, the middle class, and the lower class. People from different backgrounds have different consumption habits. For example, a consumer from a middle-class background will not buy a luxury apartment. Similarly, a consumer from a higher-class background would want to be updated with the latest technology however, a lower-class consumer would buy anything that is affordable to them.

Marketing Methods

Marketing techniques like social media marketing, advertisements, free promotional gifts, etc., can also influence the buying habits of a consumer. According to statistics, social media marketing has 5% to 30% influence on the consumer buying habits. Creative advertisements influence consumers to try a product or a service. Similarly, if organizations provide consumers with free promotional handouts, consumers tend to buy that product later.

Overcoming the Influential Factors

Organizations can do their part to overcome the aforementioned factors that influence the purchasing habits of consumers by reaching out to larger groups. Statistics state that organizations experienced 81% growth in their sales simply through word of mouth (peer influence). Organizations can provide free shipping to consumers to make their buying experience with them more convenient. Besides, companies who engaged in content marketing also experienced 40% growth in sales. This proves that although consumers have predetermined buying habits, organizations can influence people to buy their products and services by engaging in different sales strategies.